The drilling activity in Guyana has moved on from being solely focused on Exxon to now include Tullow and also Repsol. Tullow recently successfully drilled the Jethro-1 well and has spud the Joe-1 well. Repsol, however, is approaching the same stage and is expected to spud a well in this quarter. 

Repsol intends to drill the wildcat Carapa-1 exploration well in Q3 2019. Peterson Logistics has been contracted to supply integrated supply base operations management, logistics and pipeyard operations. 

The company has indicated that it will provide services to Repsol out of both Trinidad and Guyana. 

It was also announced that Peterson has successfully recertified its Trinidad and Tobago operations to four internationally recognised standards, whilst also achieving the international standard ISO 45001:2018 accreditation for occupational health and safety across all Trinidad sites. 

According to Upstream, Maarten Spiljard, director of business development at Peterson, said “We are delighted to have won this new contract with Repsol and it reaffirms our commitment to the Caribbean region. Peterson and Repsol have had a strong working relationship to date, and we look forward to working with them in the months and years ahead.” 

The Carapa-1 well on the Kanuku block is located 150 kilometres offshore Guyana. The Carapa prospect is a 200-million-barrel Cretaceous target located in 70 metres of water and will be drilled using a jack-up rig. 

Kanuku is a block covering 1,937 km2 in the Atlantic Ocean within the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana. Repsol holds a 37.5% stake and operates the project, while Tullow holds 37.5% and Total holds 25%. In 2019, Repsol plans to drill the first exploration well to determine if hydrocarbons are present. 

The Spanish oil major has already awarded a drilling contract for the Rowan EXL II jack-up rig for operations off Guyana. 

According to Rowan, the approximately 45- day contract covers one well. The EXL II, which can operate in up to 350 feet (107 metres) of water and boasts a maximum drilling depth of 35,000 feet (10,668 metres). 

The Kanuku block lies south of the prolific ExxonMobil-operated Stabroek block, where the US supermajor has recently nudged up the discovered recoverable resource base to more than 5.5 billion barrels of oil equivalent. 

The rig is owned by Valaris, which is the new name of EnscoRowan, following the merger of Ensco and Rowan.